Census Admits It Missed Minority Kids

More than 1.1 million children were not tallied in the 2000 census, nearly half of them black and Hispanic, according to newly released government estimates.

Nearly 29 percent of the children missed were black, though they made up just 15 percent of the total population of kids under 18. Hispanics were about 20 percent of the child undercount, and 17 percent of the total child population.

About 45 percent of those children missed were white, less than their 60 percent share of the total population of children. The Census Bureau data adjusted using statistical sampling also showed a slight overcount of Asian children.

The bureau released the data only after a federal court ordered it to do so. The agency said Friday the figures were flawed and had no official use.

Many Democrats and civil rights groups have disagreed, contending the state-by-state breakdown of the undercount would show that minorities and children were more likely to be missed.

Despite the government cautions, state and local lawmakers may — if their laws allow — use the adjusted data to redraw municipal political districts, or allocate billions in government dollars controlled by states for things such as school construction or social services.

They may also use the data to lobby for a bigger share of federal funding. Last year, the Census Bureau decided the unadjusted count would be used for congressional redistricting, and to plug into federal funding formulas for programs such as Medicaid and foster care, which total about $185 billion.

The Supreme Court in 1999 said only the raw, unadjusted count could be used for reapportioning House seats among the states.

The bureau in March 2001 said there was a net undercount of about 1.2 percent of the population — roughly 3.2 million people, with one-third of them children.

More than 30,000 black children younger than 18 were undercounted in New York, while more than 72,000 Hispanic kids were missed in California, the figures show. About 42,000 Hispanic children were undercounted in Texas.

Of all states, California — the most populous state in the nation — had the largest undercount regardless of age or race, more than a half-million people, or 1.5 percent of its population

Alaska had the largest percentage of people missed at 2.4 percent, an undercount of more than 15,000.

The data provided from the Census Bureau was based on research done in March 2001. Preston Jay Waite, an associate census director, said more research has been conducted since then which shows the national net undercount may have been reduced to less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

Opponents of adjusted data, mainly Republicans, have said the complicated statistical methods used to determine the undercount would add more error into a census that the bureau deemed to have one of the lowest national undercount rates ever.

Critics also have said that while adjustments count missed people, they may not allocate them to the proper neighborhoods because the formula is less accurate on the local level.

By Genaro C. Armas